Gregor and the Secret of Fire
by CrazyJ888
Summary: War torn and depressed, Gregor now lives in Virginia. It is when the Regalian council is planning to launch an attack on the enemy, that an old friend decides to pay him a visit and requests for his return.
1. Chapter 1

**Welcome everyone to my story, I'll try keep this authors note short but I can't make any promises just yet. **

**Some of you on this site have probably already seen me in reviews, and I think that it is finally time to produce my own story after being on the UC pages for almost two years. **

**Now, I'd like to assure you that this story won't be discontinued, that is because I already have the whole plot set up. On the other hand, if the feedback on this story is too negative for my likes, then, but only then it might happen that this story will be stopped. Constructive criticism is of course very welcome.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Underland Chronicles or any of the characters created by Suzanne Collins, the only things I do own are the plot for this story and some of the characters that I have come up with.**

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><p>It was a calm night, the moon shone, along with thousands of stars into the deep and dark night. In any other city, with the light from street lanterns, cars and massive buildings, the light of these beautiful stars would have been dimmed. But not here, not in this small village in the state of Virginia.<p>

Virginia, he thought with a dark grimaced face. Out of all possible places that he could be, he ended up in this town. He still could be in New York City. He'd still be living in the old apartment building next to Mrs Cormaci. Or even better, he could've been down there, with his real friends,

and with her.

But no, things weren't like he had hoped at all, instead his mother kept him like a prisoner in Virginia, up here. Pretty ironic if you think about it, the mighty Warrior who conquered the most feared enemies, was being held back by his own mother.

Yet it was true, and that truth was killing him from inside out, Gregor was actually being held back by his own mother.

When his grandmother had died about five months after his return from the Underland, they had moved out to his uncle's farm here in Virginia. And now, more or less than three years after they had moved in. Or better said, three and a half years after his return, he was still in the Overland.

Gregor wasn't the only one though who hadn't really agreed to move out. Lizzy had been protesting against it as well. As a matter of fact, he had never seen her as furious as she was at that moment. Even his mother took a step back after her outburst, but what was on her mind couldn't be changed by anyone. Even his father tried to reason with her, without success though.

Gregor sighed; he was lying on his bed and slowly turned his head to the right where his alarm rested on top of his desk.

5:11 it read.

He still had another hour or so until his school bus would be standing at his front porch. Waking up this early was something that didn't really bother Gregor. He was used to it, usually six days out of the week, if not all seven, he had the falling nightmares.

Always the same story, he would be falling down into the deep void. At first he was shouting, or no, crying for Ares to come and save him. Then, he would hear screams below him which he recognized all too well. Lizzy, Boots, his parents, Mareth, Howard, Hazard and Vikus would all appear falling below him. At last Luxa appeared, being closer to him than anyone else, screaming. He tried to reach for her, wanting to hold her hand and telling she was going to be alright, and that he would always be next to her. But whatever he did, it wouldn't help.

The further he reached for her, the bigger the gap became in between them and separating them even further. He tried to scream for her, but he choked on his own voice.

She didn't hear him.

Then came the ground, rapidly coming into his view. One by one he saw his friends and family hit the ground. Every time it felt like someone stabbed him in the chest. His tears leapt and flew off his face, taken with the wind that carried them away. Eventually, he would hit the ground himself, but not before seeing her die.

Luxa.

Every nightmare ended like this, him seeing her die, while he would wake up in cold sweat a millisecond before hitting the ground. He had never actually died, like it wasn't allowed for him to stop suffering. It forced him to re-live the dream over and over again without an end.

And just as always, this night had been one like usual.

Gregor stepped out of his bed which creaked when it jumped back to its original position. He stretched his muscles and cracked his joints followed by a loud yawn.

Walking to his private bathroom, he muffled a bit with his hair, scratching the skin beneath it.

Although moving out of the city had been quite a depressing thought at first, it had its benefits as well. For one, he had his own bathroom which was very refreshing after having to share one with his parents, sisters, and grandma.

Second, there were less people in a small village like this. He liked that, beforehand he had every single person from his neighbourhood and school standing on his veranda. He had to be extremely secretive with hiding his scars and emotions.

In Virginia though he could be a bit more open. Although he would never admit it, he secretly thanked his mom for making life just that tiny bit easier.

After less than 10 minutes, he left the bathroom having washed off all the sweat that stood on his face. Opening his wardrobe, he pulled out some dark blue jeans, a black shirt with long sleeves and some socks, closing the wardrobe afterwards.

Taking a look in the mirror that was hanging on the wall; he traced the marks that the Bane had left on his chest, horror from the dark memory showing on his face. In his time in the Underland, he had killed many any has seen many be killed, but it was that one memory that hit him the most. It was the memory of seeing Ares, his own bond, die by the claws of the Bane. Gregor could still see the gashes on Ares' neck, blood pouring out of it. He didn't even need to close his eyes to visualise it.

He walked over to his bed again, pulling the covers straight and reached for some stuff lying on his desk behind the alarm. Picking them up one by one, he slid his wallet in his left pocket along with his keys and his smartphone in his right pocket.

Gregor then reached for two more objects, one being his wristwatch which he wrapped around his left wrist.

5:26 it now read.

The last thing he grabbed was an iron chain. He slowly let it drop around his head until it was hanging around his neck. He took a glance at the claw hanging on the lowest end of the chain, holding it in his hand he whispered with eyes closed out of pain.

"I bond with you, Ares the flier".

He slowly let go, the claw sliding out of his lightly shaking finger, until it fell back to his chest. He didn't bother to cover it under his shirt; no-one would care to ask him anyway. By now everyone in his class knew asking stuff was pointless as they would only get annoyed stares without a clear responds.

He walked down on the wooden steps of the main staircase heading for the kitchen. Getting some slices of bread and pouring some milk in his glass, he eventually sat down on the couch with a sigh.

He could hear the footsteps of his family upstairs, easily recognizing the faint and rapid stamping of Boots' feet.

Out of everyone, Boots had been the only able to recover and forget the Underland. Of course this was something good; those memories full of death and despair aren't something you wish for anyone to have. Now at the age of 6 she was like any normal girl of her age, happy and enjoying school.

Gregor sometimes wished he was as innocent as her, that he would be able to enjoy school like her.

But wishes are just a fake reality of which you want it to be real, just mere hopes. A waste of time in his opinion.

The clock in the living room read 5:45 when he finished his breakfast. He put down his plate and glass, and with wiped with his sleeve the drops of milk on his lips off. Fifteen more minutes until the bus arrived.

He checked his phone seeing that he had received a few new messages from his friend Mark. That is, if you could call him a friend. As a matter of fact he was just the only one who didn't really mind sitting next to Gregor. They had exchanged their numbers just for convenience. The few times that Gregor would get texted were for reasons like a period being cancelled.

Sometimes Mark would ask him to hang out at his place or to go to swim with some of his friends. Not that he'd go, because going to swim was like asking for trouble. People would see his scars and might even think that he is getting abused by his parents or something crazy like that.

No, he couldn't swim, not in public, the risks were too high.

The messages on his phone were just from Mark telling him that the fourth period had been cancelled though. He thought about it, trying to remember which class he had then.

"Ah" he remembered, science, his favorite class. Too bad it had been cancelled; his teacher Mr Bosworth was probably sick or something. Anyway, now he had to come up with something to do in his free hour. Maybe do some history homework he thought with a grunt, he had a test of it tomorrow. He hated history, especially the fact that he would be learning about people who are already dead for ages.

His love for science, math and physics on the other hand, was obviously from his dad. After they returned, his dad was still suffering severely from his stay in the Underland. Luckily though, through the years he had been recovering from his illness, and since one year from now he had gotten his job back as science teacher at a high school. This had a big effect on their financials at home with the extra money that they got from it.

The pattering of feet on wood suddenly became louder as his two sisters both ran down the stairs.

"Good morning Greg." they both said in unison when they ran into the living room.

He smiled, returning the greet to them. They both already were in the kitchen though. Lizzy was making the breakfast for both of them, but Boots firmly commanded her by telling Lizzy what she exactly wanted for her breakfast. And it seemed pretty obvious that she wanted peanut butter with strawberry jelly, both on the same slice of bread.

Sweet strawberry juice, with salty mashed peanuts. Gregor still didn't understand how someone could ever come up with such a combination, let alone like the taste of it. He never tried it, and wasn't planning on trying it anytime soon either.

He took another glance at the clock which now read 5:55, five more minutes left.

Getting out of his oh-so-comfortable sitting position, he walked to the kitchen. He brought along his plate and glass, said his goodbyes to his sisters before going to the door to pull on his shoes. He didn't need a jacket though, it was summer and he'd be crazy to also wear that along with his long-sleeved shirt. Others would even think of him crazier, but like he cared. It was just another day of being looked at weird.

Another day of school.

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><p><strong>Thank you for reading, reviews are highly appreciated.<strong>


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello everyone! I'm back with a new chapter but a bit later than expected, I had lots of homework to do and the day that I planned to write on was pre-occupied already. I've also caught on to a pretty bad version of the flu that is going around in Holland which delayed it even more.**

**I hope that the fact that my mother language isn't English, explains why there might be some grammar errors here and there in my story like Jm12800 told. I guess I can't help it but if you notice an error I make frequently, don't hesitate on telling me please.**

**Enjoy reading!**

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><p>The big yellow bus came in view when it drove around the corner of the cross section near Gregor's house. The loud booming of the motor bouncing of the surrounding houses, with the bus eventually coming to a stop with a high pitched screeching sound.<p>

With a sigh, he walked up the stair like entrance once the doors had opened. As usual the bus driver didn't bother to even look at him. Not that Gregor cared anyway, people always ignored him. They didn't despise him or something; he just wasn't interesting enough to get their attention.

Taking a seat next to Mark, he overheard some of the conversations that were going on. Some guys were brabbing about what they had done, or girls telling what they had bought the other day. The usual.

The doors closed with a small thud and the bus slowly started driving again.

Gregor took a look out of the dirty window, which showed all its dust particles and smashed bugs in the sunlight of the still low hanging golden sun. The wooden cottages raced by going from right to left.

As he then turned his head to the right, Gregor noticed some girls in the back quickly turning their heads away.

Although he wasn't that prominent at school, most of the girls within the 'popular faction' seemed to take a liking to him. About this, Gregor was sometimes a bit puzzled, they never bothered to talk to him, nor did they get close to him. But when they thought they were out of his earshot, or not in his view anymore, they'd go on gossiping again.

Trying to test this a bit, he turned his head to the left, pretending he was looking out of the window again. When he then clicked with his tong, an image appeared showing the over-excited faces of the girls.

Even after more than 3 years he could still use the skill of echolocation, taught to him by the sarcastic, big and grey rat who was marked with an X-shaped scar on his grumpy face.

Ripred.

Gregor could never forget him, even though the rat had been a pain in the butt for him, Ripred would always scoop him, get him to do stuff, and when Gregor turned out to be an actual rager, a natural born killing machine, Ripred would train him until Gregor's muscles fell of his bones, aching and asking for mercy.

For anyone else who wasn't as close to Ripred, it would seem as if he was an aggressive rat who didn't care about anyone else except for himself. This was not the case though Gregor knew all too well, because Ripred also had a soft side which he only expressed on rare occasions.

Gregor thought back to the Prophecy of Time where Ripred had grown very fond of Gregor's sister, Lizzy. But also when Gregor needed a bit of encouragement, that Ripred would be there.

He would even go as far as to say that he missed the old rat. Still it wouldn't do any good to Gregor if he thought about him, or them. The only thing it would do is keeping him away from the things that really need to be done, like school, caring for his family and all other similar stuff.

Gregor snapped out of his thoughts when the bus came to a stop with the aforementioned high pitched sound. At that instant, the sound of everyone standing up and grabbing their bags was heard throughout the whole bus, some kids being a bit noisier than others.

Gregor lifted up from his seat and, like all others, pulled his bag from the floor, walking to exit from the wobbling bus.

The school yard was still crowded with kids who were still waiting for the first bell to ring. Gregor on the other hand walked directly towards the light-grey school building. He had no business with everyone on the yard, no-one to talk to except for Mark, but he only talked to him if he had an important question.

Walking to the pretty large doors that provided an entrance to the building, he was being looked down at by a group of guys. Usually he didn't care if he was being looked at, but the specific group that looked at him now were known as the "big bullies" of town. Graham and his gang of four others. Gregor could bet for 10 bucks that they had something nasty in mind, and he was included in that something. If he were to walk up to them at this point in time, a conflict would for sure be inevitable, Gregor would probably win as he was a rager, but the commotion would be too big and risky. Avoidance was the best thing he could do right now, so he decided to ignore them for now. Gregor kept his guard up though, just in case.

He walked through the school's corridors, which apparently were given a new layer of red paint.

At first going to his locker to grab the books for his first few classes, he walked to the classroom he was supposed to be in for the first period. The bell rang with a deafening high sound as soon as he approached the right class.

Luckily, his math teacher Mrs Brown didn't really care that he was a few seconds to late, so he was allowed to sit down. When the rest of his class stumbled in five minutes later, annoyance was clearly to be read on her face though, but it seemed she was in a pretty good and they were allowed to sit down as well. Soon after, her lesson began with an introduction to a new part of algebra.

"Great!" Gregor thought with a pretended happy expression, sarcasm dripping of it like water falling of icicles. "Just what I'd hoped for"

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><p>The hour passed by slowly to Gregor's perspective and finally the period was over. The other two periods, English and art went by in the same sequence, followed by the free hour where Gregor intended to learn for his history test which was due tomorrow.<p>

Because of the sunny and hot weather with 83 degrees (roughly 28 degrees Celsius), he came to decision to just sit outside, in the shadow of a massive and solid oak tree. Sitting in the sun was too warm, especially to Gregor with his black shirt and long sleeves.

He opened his book and looked through the pages until coming to page 165 where the chapter about the industrial revolution began. It was extremely boring, reading about how, where and when the first locomotive was invented and how Russia came to grow exponentially in their technologies way later than America.

About thirty minutes had passed already when Gregor noticed something in the corner of his eye. He tried to ignore it and wanted to keep reading, but he had already lost his concentration. It bothered him quite a lot that Graham was looking at him again. Gregor turned his head back to his book but didn't read at all, instead he was using echolocation to see what they were up to without them knowing.

They were talking to each other in a way that was too suspicious for the likes of Gregor. Once in a while a laugh was heard coming from various members of the little gang. Something was going to happen, Gregor knew it, but he was ready for it.

His speculations didn't deceive him he realized when one them grabbed a small rock from the stone tiled ground, and threw it at Gregor. It wasn't of any threat to Gregor though as he only had to raise his book a few inches to block the projectile, but it did alert him that they defiantly wanted to do something to him.

Looking at Grahams face, it was pretty obvious that it had upset him that Gregor blocked the rock. Gregor laid his book aside when they started approaching him.

"Yup" he thought, it's going to happen right here and now. "Crap".

"Hey! What was that supposed to mean lil' twerk? We were gunna give ya a nice rocky present and you reject it like that?" Graham shouted when he and his guys came within a proper range. "It looks like we're gunna have to teach this little boy some manners, don't we guys?"

His last question was directed to his mates standing beside him. All four of them started grinning like crazy, as if they had pranked someone.

"Yeah, hehe!" came the answer from one of them, sadism shown on his face.

"Alrighty then," Graham confirmed with the same sadistic face as his mate. "We're gunna beat you up little twerk, or do you still wanna thank us?"

They were right about one part Gregor thought, they were right about the "little part". The great Warrior and natural born killer was as a matter of fact only 5'7 tall at the age of 17. (1.70 meters)

Gregor thought about the question and came to conclusion that saying "thank you" was the best solution to avoid a fight, even though he despised the idea of thanking him. He was about to say it, but the words hadn't left his mouth yet when he was interrupted by Graham.

"Oops, time's up. You better wish you had said it cuz you're gunna have the beating of your life!" With that Graham and his gang members lunged forward, only being 15 feet away.

Gregor stood up from the dry grass when his vision fragmented, and buzzing blood racing through his veins while carrying massive amounts of adrenalin. Everything surrounding him blended out except for a few spots.

Throats, temples, knees, ribs, eyes, noses and various other lethal places. Gregor couldn't afford to kill them though; it would give him a straight ticket to jail.

They were only five feet away from him by now, Graham at front and the others following him in a rough V-formation.

Gregor took a step forward with his left foot and soon after dodged the first fist coming from Graham by ducking, from this position he spinned on his left foot while stretching his right foot backwards. This caused Graham and one other guy to lose balance and fall. After his spin finished, he rapidly pushed himself up with his left foot and lifted his right elbow. On his way up he gave, the still falling gang member, a direct hit on the temple with his elbow. His eyes rolled backward in his eye pockets when he pummelled unconsciously to the not so soft ground with a thud.

One down, four left.

Gregor himself stood on both his feet again and was ready to take on the next blow. A fist came to give Gregor an uppercut on the chin; he avoided it though and grabbed the person's wrist firmly with his left hand. Giving it a small twist to its left, and pushing it down with his body weight, there sounded a faint but assured snap of a breaking wrist.

Two down, three left.

Still being in the low position from breaking that wrist, he rolled backwards and jumped back on his feet while grabbing someone's foot. Gregor's upward motion caused the owner of those feet to be lifted up and eventually fell down again, head first. He tried to swing his arms around in order to maintain balance, but was therefore too late to protect his head with his arms when it made impact with the ground.

Three down, two left.

Graham who stood in front of Gregor now, slung his left fist towards Gregor's right temple, while a kick from the other still standing person behind him came to his back. Without hesitation, Gregor grabbed the leg of the kicking person and used its momentum to drag him forwards making them swap places. The fist landed on a temple, but it wasn't Gregor's. One second later the lump body of Graham's buddy fell to the ground.

Four down, one leader left.

Angered and even a bit frightened by the sight of four of his mates lying on the ground, Graham pulled out a pocket knife.

"You're dead!" The now lone gang leader screamed on top of his lungs, his voice slightly cracking because of his dry throat.

Graham leaped forwards with his knife held in front of him, clinging to it like it was his only hope of winning the fight. It was a wasted effort though. Gregor put his left foot to the front and turned sideways until his left side faced the coming Graham.

Right before the knife was to make contact with Gregor's left arm, Gregor grabbed Graham's wrist using his right hand and let himself fall backwards. While falling, Gregor made a sharp turn to his right while disarming Graham with his one hand. His turn caused Graham to get beneath him.

Pointing his left elbow down, Gregor punched Graham in his stomach using the impact force when Graham hit the ground with Gregor being on top of him. This was followed by a sharp and horrific scream from Graham because, very unfortunately, the knife had fallen on the ground with the blade facing up. And Graham just happened to fall directly on it, the knife piercing through his cloths, and into Graham's right arm scratching his bone and twisting because of Graham body weight leaning on it.

The whole incident had only taken about thirty seconds and the fight was already over when most people on the schoolyard even knew something was going.

Panting hardly at all, Gregor reached down for Graham, his vision slowly returning to its normal state. He rolled Graham a bit to his left and carefully slid the knife out of his arm. By now a small puddle of red blood had formed on the ground but it didn't seem as if the knife had hit any arteries.

Gregor stood up again holding the knife while looking at the red stained blade. He was in deep trouble, that was a fact.

A few seconds later the principle stormed out of the doors leading to the yard, he turned until he noticed Gregor standing and being surrounded by the newly formed crowd. He looked at him, at the knife with blood on it, at the 5 bullies lying on the ground, and back at him. By now, Gregor had realized that pulling out the knife was something he better couldn't have done.

"Dang."

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><p><strong>Well... what do you think? Is it too violent and detailed for T? I don't really have experience with that yet. See you next week<strong>


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